December's Book: Kisses, Lies, & Us

Genre: Hidden Identity, Holiday Romance Novella (First in Series)
Author: Willa Drew
Character: Nick Stavros
Pronouns: He/him

A wannabe film student walks into a bar with a fake ID and orders a drink…yes, sometimes my life does feel like a joke.

Take tonight. Abandoned by my dad at a swanky resort on Christmas Eve, I search for a little holiday cheer of my own. Trying an Old Fashioned at the hotel bar might be what I need to reset my lonely night in LA.

Cue Sarah, a beautiful bartender who tells it like it is. She’s a struggling screenwriter, and I’m about to typecast myself as the hero in her story.

Only this once I decide to actually be myself—except for that whole fake ID part. She must like me for me because next thing I know, she invites me to a party.

We laugh. We talk. We kiss.

Sarah might be the only person who sees the real me… but that doesn’t mean she knows the whole truth about who she’s falling for.

If you like secret identity, movies, soulmates, friends-to-lovers, and a right person wrong time new adult romance, Kisses, Lies, & Us, Book One in the Falling for the Liar Series is for you. Each of the five stories in the series revolves around a major holiday throughout one year in the lives of Sarah and Nick and offers a rollercoaster of emotions and adventures inside and outside the US.

Willa Drew: What should I call you? Do you prefer a nickname?

Nick: People in Chicago like to call me Nicky, but I prefer Nick. When I more to LA, I’ll only allow my mom to call me Nicky.

WD: Welcome and thanks for agreeing to talk to us today.

N: Perfect practice. I plan to give out many of these. I have a few minutes before my flight.

WD: Can I get you something to drink? We have a fully stocked bar here and I’m buying.

N: Is this a trick question? Are you going to ask me for my ID next? No need. I’m nineteen. I’ll stick with a Coke.

WD: Tell me a little about yourself?

N: I’m in my last year of high school, played left defense in the Chicago’s Young Americans team, good with a camera, and plan to study film in UCLA next year. Think of me as a future director of your favorite film.

WD: Where do you live?

N: LA born, but after my parents split up when I was nine, Mom moved us to Chicago to live with her family. Not looking forward to putting my parka back on when I get back there. LA Christmases might not have snow but at least they’re warm.

WD: Do you have any jobs or hobbies?

N: Does music count? (points to his headphones.) Never go anywhere without these.

But for the most part, my job is my hobby. Movies, cameras, thinking about a way to present something on the screen, that’s how I spend all my days. For now, my ex-girlfriend’s dad’s camera shop lets me do all that and get paid but I’ll have to figure out a place to work when I move to LA for school.

WD: What are some of your likes and dislikes?

N: Likes? Easy. Movies: watching them, learning about the directors, the screenwriting, the sets. I recently met a screenwriter and we brainstormed some scenes for her manuscript while eating tacos. LA tacos are definitely on my like list now. Dislikes. Spicy food. My mouth burns even thinking about spices. Mom raise us on lots of traditional Greek food, and I haven’t ventured much beyond.

WD: What is your greatest fear?

N: Not seeing this girl, Sarah, I met on Christmas Eve in LA again.

WD: Sounds like there’s a story there...

N: Sarah is… amazing. I’ve never met anyone like her. She’s an aspiring screenwriter. She’s the one I was working on a script with. She took me to see the view from Griffith Park.

WD: If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

N: Tell the whole truth. Less hiding. Not give Sarah a fake name when I met her.

WD: A fake name? Care to explain?

N: See, my friends gave me this fake ID for my birthday. As a joke of course. I wasn’t going to use it, but with my dad leaving me alone while he was schmoozing some business associates on Christmas Eve at this swanky bar, I had to entertain myself. A nineteen-year-old can’t have much at a bar, so I used my birthday gift. Sarah happened to be my bartender. When she invited me to her party, it was a perfect way to spend the evening in LA, but at that point she knew me as Shawn Rosstav.

WD: You didn’t correct her?

N: We talked all night, and I wanted to tell her, but then Dad interrupted us, and I ran out of time.

WD: Are you happy we know your story?

N: That’s the thing. No one really knows my story. But they will because Sarah has to know who I am. I’ll tell her first chance I get.

WD: Is there anything you want to say to your fans?

N: You mean the choir I filmed last semester? I guess thanks for the gig. I used the documentary as my entry into the Starlight Foundations Future Filmmakers Competition. If I get into the competition I can move back to LA early and win money for my tuition.

WD: Can we look forward to reading more of your story?

N: I have so much more to tell. I’m heading back to LA in February.

WD: Oh, looks like we have run out of time thanks for chatting with me today. And good luck explaining to Sarah your little…mishap.

N: I’ll find her and explain that even though I lied, I’m not a liar. She’ll have to see I didn’t mean to deceive her. She has to believe me.

Click here to read Nick’s story, Kisses, Lies, & Us, the first book in the Falling for The Liar series.

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